Refile IMHO
There is absolutely no problem refiling etc to achieve the aim of getting folks and their bags to destination. That is the commercially sensible way to use jets.
But of course that implies that you have the plan that works in the first place.
There have been numerous ( well at least a couple) EK diversions from apparently inaccurate lidos in EK on the SFO route.
I personally know one captain who refused the refile plan , took the extra fuel and less freight etc, and made DXB with just the fuel he legally needed.
And as far as safety is concerned , doing a refile plan that eventually results in a diversion - after say 15 hours flight time, and then being expected to do the refuel, and another take off and landing is arguably more dangerous ( statistically ) than not doing it.
And of course you will be expected to do the extra sector. And even if it is technically legal, after several variation one and twos, a couple of 9 day trips to Oz and a few night turns in your 92 hour monthly roster, I for one would not be happy to have to stop for gas if I didnt have to.
Similarly, the company policy to is to protect the hub - hence why I was told to take 50 tonnes in a T7 on a 1.8 hour flight to Tehran when there was fog forecast back in DXB ( which the met men have been doing to hedge their bets for most days in the last week). Guess better to have it than not but does seem to be an overkill...
Hence the conflicting signals that seem to be sent - fuel the company puts on is good fuel... but fuel that the pilot might want to take is bad fuel to achieve the mission?
Of course I have never been called into the office for extra fuel so I hope that this is just a rumour.
Of course what fuel is actually in the tanks versus what is on the load sheet ( to make it legal) could always be a bit out... and what you write on the OFP is of course another thing... like never fill in the extra and the little indian man that types in what you put there doesn't ever bother the compare the tech log with the OFP min fuel...I am sure you can all work that one out...
It is easy to get your maths wrong after what I just said about 92 hour rosters ). It just depends on what your limit is MTOW or MLW really. Similarly, use of the Max taxi weight versus TOW seems to be a bit light on in this outfit. The extra 1.5 T that you can throw on ,most jets to get to the runway is not oft used in EK - since I have been there at least.
So a few options to keep things on the rails.
Wja